Inglourious Basterds

During World War II, a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers, led by Lt. Aldo Raine, become known as "The Basterds." They are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish woman who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers. A plot is set in motion to kill the Nazis at the theater's movie premier, including Adolph Hitler.

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Wow! I just read several of the comments and wonder if we watched the same movie. The story line is ridiculous even for a "what if" movie, Brad Pitt's best scenes were the ones he was absent from, and I'd question whether the director would be prepared to base his reputation on this stinker. Do yourself a favor and take a pass!

For history fanatics, this movie may be an appealing choice. Set in France during World War II, the brutal Nazi regime is occupying the French territory. A group of young Jewish-American soldiers are in France with the goal of assassinating Nazi leaders. Elsewhere, a girl named Shosanna Dreyfus, a Jewish refugee, also has the same plan. She runs a theatre where every high ranking Nazi officer is set to appear for an event. Will they succeed in their plans? The movie is quite gruesome and definitely intended for older audiences. It is worth mentioning that even those who are not particularly interested in history can still enjoy the movie.
- @JuiceboxZ of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library

This is a 2009 German-American fantasy-war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.
The film makes up and depicts a fictional alternate history about the assassination of the Nazi Germany's political leadership.
A young French Jewish woman plots to kill the German audience that includes Hitler while they watch the "Nation's Pride."
A team of Jewish-American soldiers led by First Lieutenant Aldo Raine also try to mass-murder the German soldiers behind the enemy line.
Although it impresses me as a hard-boiled Tarantino-esque film, the fantasy portion of the movie gives me a big letdown simply because his alternate historical events are so out of reality---if not foolish.
In any case, it is an entertaining piece with good laughs after the scaring and chilling moments.

This was another remarkable movie by Tarantino. I loved all the character and was incredibly impressed by all the actors. Especially Brad Pitt, Christoph Walts, Diane Kruger, Michael Fassbender and Melanie Laurent. I can't explain this story better than the comment below. I would just get a grasp of the plot and not read the whole thing because there are a lot of spoilers.

This was my first Quentin Tarantino movie and I freaking loved it! On my top favorite movies without a doubt! It was funny, intense and bloody as hell.What did I like about this movie? Firstly there are the performances, several of them from new, breakout stars: Christopher Waltz, of course, is the film's true revelation. He plays SS Colonel Landa whose task it is to hunt for Jewish fugitives in Nazi occupied France. Waltz plays the character in a very interesting fashion. He never gives the impression that he truly hates Jewish people and wants them eradicated. He additionally does not give the impression that he is intensely loyal to the Nazi party and wants soley to see its goals carried out (as was the case with Joseph Goebbels, also featured in the film). He is simply is a professional, a detective of sorts whose job is to discover the whereabouts of wanted fugitives, and then secure their capture. That his job has unsavory aspects to it does not unsettle him, nor does it, in some perverse manner, motivate him. It simply is what it is, and as a professional he must pursue it to its logical conclusion.

The film also features excellent performances by Micheal Fassbender (this being his first big commercial film), the stunning beauty Diane Kruger (as the double agent Bridget Von Hammersmark), and August Diehl, who plays a cunning and ruthless SS Officer with remarkable authenticity. Brad Pitt surprising does an excellent job in this film as tough as nails Lieutenant "Apache" Raine. I say surprsingly, because Pitt has had to redefine himself as he enters middle age. He can no longer sell movies based on his hearthrob status of his 20s and 30s (where he basically had to just show up and hordes of women were guaranteed to go watch his movies). In his search for a new identity, he has had his share of flops (eg. I thought he was terrible in "Moneyball"). But with this movie, it appears he found a role that suits him to a tee. Namely, that of a kind of tough guy, a poor man's John Wayne, complete with generous amounts of wit, charm, charisma and humor.

Beyond the acting, the movies story and script is first rate. My favorite scene in the movie, just a classic Tarantino scene that would be right at home in a movie like "Pulp Fiction", is the tavern scene towards the middle of the film. This is where British Agent Micheal Fassbender must make a rendezvous with his contact, double agent Bridget von Hammersmark. Now Hammersmark happens to be a famous German actress, and she is approached in the tavern by a regiment of off duty German soldiers (several of whom are getting alarmingly drunk). When Fassbender is finally able to pry her away from these admirers, a covert SS Officer, played brillantly but August Diehl, makes a surprise entrance, and, suspicious of Fassbender's curious German accent, decides to interrogate him and his party. The scene is brillantly scripted, and the tension between the aggressive Diehl and the calm and collected Fassbender is palpable. This scene alone makes the movie worth watching.

This is not a movie for everybody. There is plenty of violence and gore in this movie, which may offend more sensitive viewers. However, if you are a fan of Tarantino films, and you are curious how Tarantino would approach a WW2 movie, then this is a film you need to see. Humor, action, gore, suspense and best of all... Nazis being scalped, beating, shot, mutilated and heads being blown off with baseball bats. Strangely satisfying :/

This is a Tarantino film so you expect a lot of ultra violence and outlandishness. Christoph Waltz did an excellent job portraying an evil Nazi SS officer. Very entertainment if you have the stomach for certain scenes.

Typical Quentin Tarantino trash....blood and guts. Could have been a good movie if the screenplay had historical authenticity. Brad Pitt is so unbelievable and stupid - trying to pull himself off as an Italian with a country boy accent...c'mon. We would have lost the war if we had quacks like that in our OSS. If you want to watch something really good, watch the episode on the Military History Channel on the real Inglorious Bastards...it is a million times better and then some.

Though it feels a 2 hour movie in a 3 hour body, the interminable scenes of setup before each violent denouement are at least quite well done. Even if it wasn’t the tightest film it was at least thankfully less self-indulgent than Kill Bill (despite having its fair share of film geek “homages”/references) and the dialog was a bit less gratingly self-aware this time as well.

Notices

Violence:Strong, brutal, bloody violence throughought, including both war violence and brutal close-quarters encounters (deliberate mutilation with knives, throat-slashings, scalping). A man's head explodes. A woman is shot at point-blank range. A German officer is shown being obliterated by machine-gun fire, bullets pulverizing his body and face into a bloody mass.